I know I’m dwelling on this a lot, but the extent to which Hideki Matsui dominates things here at Athletics’ camp cannot be overstated. From the press box to the on-the-field warmups and even down to the litter you see on the sidewalk outside the ballpark, everything is about Godzilla here.

I don’t envy these guys on the Matsui beat. Talk to U.S. beat writers who cover a given team and you learn that it’s not easy coming up with a new angle for a new story every day, and they’ve got 25 guys plus minor leaguers and coaches to choose from. Now apply that to the a given Japanese beat writer who has to come up with a new angle every single day for one guy. And figure in the fact that, rather than the 3-5 beat reporters Johnny Beat Writer has to compete with, the Japanese guys have 20. And they’re doing it over 5,000 miles from home. Poor sods. But I guess it beats working in an office.

They didn’t get to swarm Matsui at his locker this morning, however. The clubhouse was closed due to the annual meeting with MLB Security. Those intrepid souls go from camp to camp this time of year warning ballplayers about the dangers of shysters, bunco artists, grifters, fast women, drug dealers, demon drink and — most of all — Twitter and Facebook. Play cards and carry on all you want, young players, but dear God, watch what you Tweet.

I wandered from the closed clubhouse door and on toward the field when I saw this fellow behind a bench on the third base concourse:

I can haz Trevor Cahill’s autograph?

Then I got on to the field and I saw this:

Can’t help it. I’m a sucker for the equipment-bag-on-freshly-cut-grass-as-the-sun-comes-up-over-the-ballpark shot. Oh, and I’m also a sucker for anything Rickey Henderson-related:

And the actual Rickey Henderson watching Athletics’ players doing base running drills is more than a little Rickey Hederson-related. “Rickey thinks that Rickey can still run better than any of y’all,” Rickey did not say but I imagine he was thinking.

Former Mets catcher Johnny Monell signed a contract with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, per a report by Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. The 30-year-old originally struck a deal with the NC Dinos on Thursday, but the deal appeared to fall through at the last minute, according to Cotillo’s unnamed source.

Monell last surfaced for the Mets during their 2015 run, batting a dismal .167/.231/.208 with two extra bases in 52 PA before the club DFA’d him to clear space for Bartolo Colon. While he’s had difficulty sticking at the major league level, he’s found a higher degree of success in the minor league circuit and holds a career .271 average over a decade of minor league play. He played exclusively in Triple-A Las Vegas during the 2016 season, slashing .276/.336/.470 with 19 home runs and a career-high 75 RBI in 461 PA.

The veteran backstop appears to be the second MLB player to join the KT Wiz roster this offseason, as right-hander Donn Roach also signed with the club last month on a one-year, $850,000 deal.

Brewers’ right-hander Phil Bickford received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a drug of abuse, per the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin. This is the second time Bickford has been suspended for recreational drug use, as he was previously penalized in 2015 after testing positive for marijuana prior to the amateur draft.

Bickford was selected by the Giants in the first round of the 2015 draft and was later dealt to the Brewers for lefty reliever Will Smith at the 2016 trade deadline. He finished his 2016 campaign in High-A Brevard County, pitching to a 3.67 ERA, 10.0 K/9 rate and 5.0 BB/9 over 27 innings.

Two other suspensions were handed down on Friday, one to Toronto minor league right-hander Pedro Loficial for a positive test for metabolites of Stanozolol and one to Miami minor league outfielder Casey Soltis for a second positive test for drugs of abuse. Loficial will serve a 72-game suspension, while Soltis will serve 50 games. All three suspensions are due to start at the beginning of the 2017 season for each respective minor league team.

We are very disappointed to learn of Phil’s suspension, but we fully support the Minor League Baseball Drug Prevention and Testing Program and its enforcement by the Commissioner’s Office. Phil understands he made a mistake, and we fully anticipate that he will learn from this experience.